you can forgive me for all I’ve put you through, but I couldn’t think what else to do. And I didn’t realize Nat would be gone so long.”
“No kidding. None of us did.”
“Is she…what color are her eyes now?”
“Blue.” And now Sebastian could see it. They were Nat’s eyes. “She has a sock monkey named Bruce,” he added, not sure why he’d said it. “She dotes on that silly monkey.”
“She does? That’s…so cute. I wish—” Jessica broke off with a little sob. “Here’s—here’s Nat,” she choked out.
Nat’s voice was rough with emotion. “We’ll be there as soon as we possibly can. Goodbye, buddy.”
“Take care, Nat.” His heart heavy, Sebastian slowly hung up the phone and turned to the little cluster of people waiting in the kitchen doorway. They all looked anxious except for Elizabeth. She’d stopped fussing and was playing happily with the raccoon puppet Travis had brought her.
Sebastian’s chest grew tight as he looked at the baby. He’d known life couldn’t go on indefinitely like this. He’d told himself hundreds of times that someday Jessica would turn up. But the longer she’d stayed away, the more he’d built a case in his mind for challenging her right to Elizabeth. Now he could see that she’d stayed away for a good reason, an honorable reason. She’d tortured herself in order to protect her baby, and he wasn’t about to challenge her claim now. And that meant his days with Elizabeth were numbered.
“I think we’d better get Boone and Shelby over here,” he said.
J ESSICA HUDDLED on the bed and tried not to cry. No matter how hard she worked at it, she couldn’t picture her little baby with four teeth. Four. And blue, blue eyes instead of the smoky gray-blue they’d been at two months.
Elizabeth was so different now, but all Jessica could imagine were tiny hands, impossibly tiny fingernails, a gummy smile. She didn’t look like that anymore. And she’d found a favorite toy, a monkey named Bruce. Jessica had missed it all.
Nat hung up the phone and put his arm around her. “It’ll be okay,” he said gently.
“Will it?” She looked at him through eyes blurred with tears. “She’s changed so much. If someone walked by meon the street holding Elizabeth, I probably wouldn’t recognize her!”
“Sure you would.” He gave her a comforting squeeze. “I’ll bet she hasn’t changed all that much.”
The knot of misery tightened in her stomach. “Maybe that’s true,” she said, pushing each word out as if it were made of lead, “but even if I didn’t know her right away, that’s not really what I’m afraid of.”
“Then what?”
She gulped back tears. “Oh, Nat, after all this time… she won’t recognize me! ”
CHAPTER SEVEN
J ESSICA LONGED to hop on a plane and be in Colorado by nightfall, but in order to do that she’d have to use her real identity at the ticket counter. She didn’t want to risk it.
“I think you’ll have to rent us a car,” she said as they ate a room-service breakfast, she wearing the hotel robe and Nat in jeans and a T-shirt. “I’ll be glad to pay for—”
“Don’t you dare start that.” He put down his coffee cup and glared at her.
“Start what?”
“Assuming all the responsibility.”
Even when he got gruff and bristly, she couldn’t stop the surge of lust she felt every time she looked at him. When he talked, the movement of his mouth reminded her of his kiss, and everything he touched reminded her of his caress. “But I’m the one who should have known about antibiotics and how they affected birth control pills,” she said. “If I’d been smarter, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“If you’d been smarter, you wouldn’t have been involved with me in the first place.” His tone was bitter. “I should have been proud to tell everyone that you…that you cared for me. Instead, I kept you hidden in the shadows.”
“You didn’t hold a gun to my head, Nat. I stuck around
“No kidding. None of us did.”
“Is she…what color are her eyes now?”
“Blue.” And now Sebastian could see it. They were Nat’s eyes. “She has a sock monkey named Bruce,” he added, not sure why he’d said it. “She dotes on that silly monkey.”
“She does? That’s…so cute. I wish—” Jessica broke off with a little sob. “Here’s—here’s Nat,” she choked out.
Nat’s voice was rough with emotion. “We’ll be there as soon as we possibly can. Goodbye, buddy.”
“Take care, Nat.” His heart heavy, Sebastian slowly hung up the phone and turned to the little cluster of people waiting in the kitchen doorway. They all looked anxious except for Elizabeth. She’d stopped fussing and was playing happily with the raccoon puppet Travis had brought her.
Sebastian’s chest grew tight as he looked at the baby. He’d known life couldn’t go on indefinitely like this. He’d told himself hundreds of times that someday Jessica would turn up. But the longer she’d stayed away, the more he’d built a case in his mind for challenging her right to Elizabeth. Now he could see that she’d stayed away for a good reason, an honorable reason. She’d tortured herself in order to protect her baby, and he wasn’t about to challenge her claim now. And that meant his days with Elizabeth were numbered.
“I think we’d better get Boone and Shelby over here,” he said.
J ESSICA HUDDLED on the bed and tried not to cry. No matter how hard she worked at it, she couldn’t picture her little baby with four teeth. Four. And blue, blue eyes instead of the smoky gray-blue they’d been at two months.
Elizabeth was so different now, but all Jessica could imagine were tiny hands, impossibly tiny fingernails, a gummy smile. She didn’t look like that anymore. And she’d found a favorite toy, a monkey named Bruce. Jessica had missed it all.
Nat hung up the phone and put his arm around her. “It’ll be okay,” he said gently.
“Will it?” She looked at him through eyes blurred with tears. “She’s changed so much. If someone walked by meon the street holding Elizabeth, I probably wouldn’t recognize her!”
“Sure you would.” He gave her a comforting squeeze. “I’ll bet she hasn’t changed all that much.”
The knot of misery tightened in her stomach. “Maybe that’s true,” she said, pushing each word out as if it were made of lead, “but even if I didn’t know her right away, that’s not really what I’m afraid of.”
“Then what?”
She gulped back tears. “Oh, Nat, after all this time… she won’t recognize me! ”
CHAPTER SEVEN
J ESSICA LONGED to hop on a plane and be in Colorado by nightfall, but in order to do that she’d have to use her real identity at the ticket counter. She didn’t want to risk it.
“I think you’ll have to rent us a car,” she said as they ate a room-service breakfast, she wearing the hotel robe and Nat in jeans and a T-shirt. “I’ll be glad to pay for—”
“Don’t you dare start that.” He put down his coffee cup and glared at her.
“Start what?”
“Assuming all the responsibility.”
Even when he got gruff and bristly, she couldn’t stop the surge of lust she felt every time she looked at him. When he talked, the movement of his mouth reminded her of his kiss, and everything he touched reminded her of his caress. “But I’m the one who should have known about antibiotics and how they affected birth control pills,” she said. “If I’d been smarter, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“If you’d been smarter, you wouldn’t have been involved with me in the first place.” His tone was bitter. “I should have been proud to tell everyone that you…that you cared for me. Instead, I kept you hidden in the shadows.”
“You didn’t hold a gun to my head, Nat. I stuck around
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